Bricked computer (no HDMI)

Hardware
1

I was trying to flash an OS to librem mini.

I set boot to USB, and it didn’t load the OS installation GUI.

I rebooted the machine. From this point on, it doesn’t output anything on HDMI.

How can I unbrick it?

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2

Which OS?

Do you have e.g. a PureOS Live Boot USB flash drive to try?

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3

OS was startos-0.3.5.1-39de098_x86_64.iso

but tbh I think this is secondary at this point

I don’t get HDMI output, so it doesn’t matter what I flash into the USB flash drive if I cannot look at a screen to install it.

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4

Disconnect and reconnect the monitor, or connect a different one instead.

5

I already tried checking if the issue is related to the monitor, I wouldn’t bother seeking help on a forum for such a basic thing.

I appreciate the answers but to be honest I hope someone could give me some guidance in terms of debugging firmware/bootloader/BIOS/UEFI.

Maybe some instructions on how to do a factory reset.

Trying to flash a USB stick with different images or checking cables are not very helpful to be honest.

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6

What firmware did you have on the Mini when it was working? Coreboot+BIOS? Pureboot?

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7

This librem mini was acquired from Start9, so it’s what is being distributed by them.

By looking at their docs, I assume it was Pureboot:

https://docs.start9.com/0.3.5.x/flashing-guides/firmware-pure

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8

PureBoot Basic, although there seems to be three variants:

  • White Windows
  • Dark Windows with the firmware jail
  • Dark Windows without the firmware jail

You can contact Start9 for support:

9

Their store though suggests that it comes with Coreboot. And I would have thought with StartOS pre-installed.

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10

PureBoot Basic is Coreboot + Heads, just without the Librem Key integration and thus firmware tampering detection, so technically the product listing is correct.

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11

is there a way to factory reset it?

or to flash some bootloader without HDMI output?

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12

The Librem Mini v2 has DisplayPort 1.2 4K@60Hz output support, so you can try using a DisplayPort-compatible monitor instead.

13

I don’t have DisplayPort cable nor screen available, but I think that is deviating from the point yet again.

so I’ll rephrase my question:

is there a way to factory reset it?

or to flash some bootloader without video output?

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14

Theoretically yes, but it requires knowing when PureBoot prompts occur after Coreboot passes responsibility to the Heads payload. These prompts, normally displayed on a monitor, may differ in timing across devices and other hardware configuration, therefore I cannot provide reliable and reproducible instructions for your Librem Mini.

15

You can probably use an external chip programmer to reflash the firmware if the device is bricked. This requires a certain amount of equipment and expertise however.

However if you have not attempted to reflash the firmware, I don’t see why the firmware would be a problem. As I understood it, you were just attempting to install (or reinstall) an operating system on the disk.

I am unclear on exactly what device you really have. The vendor does not appear to be making representations that it is a Librem Mini (and if it were some grey-market quasi-compatible device then that would raise the question as to whether quasi-compatible with the Mini v1 or the Mini v2).

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16

The Start9 Server Pure is a rebranded Librem Mini v2:

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17

I think it’s more likely that both are rebranded devices from a Chinese wholesaler. I was able to find the wholesaler for the Mini v1, but haven’t found it for the Mini v2.

The Miniv2 is selling for $800 with 8GB RAM (64GB max) and a 250GB NVMe drive, while the Server Pure is selling for $790 with 32GB RAM and a 2TB NVMe drive.

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